Kate Wandering

Laos, home of Beer Lao and so much more

Hey there people!
I haven't really been feeling very 'bloggie' lately, so please forgive my lack of attention.
So, we're in Laos. Specifically Luang Prabang. It's such a charming little town, obviously the UNESCO dollars are being put to work. The streets are all paved, things are amazingly clean (by S.E. Asia standards) and most of the colonial buildings are in great shape.
But, since I've been slacking so much in the blog department, I really should catch you up on the Issan region in Thailand and the other places in Laos.
Read on!

After JP and I left Bangkok the last time, we went to Konh Kaen, in the middle of the Issan region of Thailand (which is the North East). I knew that this part of the country recieved the fewest number of visitors, and I thought it was really neat to see how a Thai city operates without any concern of entertaining 'farang' (white people).

It was really well organized, you could pay 5 bhat and take any of the pickup truck-busses that go down all the streets, so it was simple to get around. Next to the hotel we stayed in was a great night food market filled with stalls selling the ubiquitous noodle soup in all its incarnations, a variety of sausages and bbq pork ready to be served onto rice with a side of spicy sauce (ohhhh...Thailand spoiled me! Lao food (so far) isn't nearly as good....wahhh!) Anyway, we stayed there for a few days, long enough for me to fall in love with the cotton and silk handweaving traditions in the area, really nice stuff.

We moved on to Nong Khai which is right on the Thai side of the Mekong Lao border. It also was a fun town, lots of interesting things for sale, Lao, Chineese, Thai, Burmeese, being a border town, trade is a major activity. It was fun watching the sun set over the river, drinking my beer Lao, fingering my newest silk purchase and watching old Thai ladies taking their evening constitutional.

A few miles outside of town was this kooky sculpture garden bulit in the 1970's by this self-proclamed Hindu/Buddhist guru. I bet this guy 'really enjoyed' himself in the seventies, look for yourself.....

We also visited the forest wat nearby, it was so peaceful. There were kids riding around on their bicycles and people chanting.

Saying goodbye to Thailand (not for long) we crossed into Laos. It was pretty smooth, I don't think anywhere in S.E. Asia rivels the Thai-Cambodian border at Poipet.

We got into a truck taxi which JP had bargained 150 bhat for the both of us to the truck stop to Vang Vieng which was to be our first stop, since there was nothing compelling us to Vientienne. This young hippie guy gets in and three Thai ladies. We hear the Thai ladies discussing their fare with the driver in Thai, and since one of the first things you pick up is numbers, we distinctly head 50 bhat many times. The hippie guy gets pissed because he was told by the driver that he would have to pay 150. He's going to try to get the same fare as the Thais. I knew this was going to be good.

We arrive and immediately the hippie guy starts in on the driver "we saw the three ladies pay 150 bhat for all of them, we should pay the same for the three of us". Logical argument, it's fair, but we're in S.E. Asia, home of the 'farang price'. The driver obstinately shakes his head and says "no, no, no".
The hippie kid begins yelling and putting up a big stink, the best way to ensure no cooperation in this part of the world. JP and I are just looking at each other and rolling our eyes. We've got our price settled. so what if it's 25 bhat more than what the Thais paid, is it really worth standing around and arguing for 15 minutes?
In the end, the hippie guy was able to get the driver down to 130 bhat, and I swear he winked at me as he was driving away...

Vang Vieng is a hippie paradise. Mountains, caves, river tubing, plenty of drugs and other hippies to hook up with. For me, it was a little dull. I really enjoyed the scenery, but once we had a bit of that, we took off to Luang Prabang. It feels a bit more cultured and Lao here. Sure there are tourists but there is plenty of real life taking place too.

So the plan is to stick around here for a few days. I really want to visit some of the silk weaving villages so I can see it in action, maybe go to the famous waterfall that's around here, etc. Then we'll take a boat up the Mekong to the Thai border and be able to enjoy eating again.

Here's a few from around town, JP is more camera-happy than me lately, so check out his blog for more: http://blogs.bootsnall.com/jp
Later!
K

Feelin' Clean

Back from Cambodia, Malaria free (I think), and happy to be back in ol' Bangkok again, I had my first hot shower today in over 2 weeks and just finished receiving an hour long foot massage. Heavenly.............

I really enjoyed my time in Cambodia, there is alot there to see and experience. The things that impressed me the most are:

The ancient temples (obviously)
Adorable friendly kids
Red dirt and dust everywhere and on everything
The abject poverty of such a large percentage of people
The money being poured in (especially near Ankor Wat) by foreign interests
The expat communities

Overall, I can say that I would love to go back. It isn't as easy as Thailand, but it's cool to feel on the edge of the world.

To bring you up to date since my last entry, JP and I went to the coast at Sihannoukville a little over 2 weeks ago. He promptly cut his foot on a motorbike (requiring 2 stiches, he's fine) and so no swimming for him. We spent a few days checking out the town, it was interesting, very laid-back compared to Penom Penh. Here's some pics of our dry day at the beach...

We ate some really yummy fried lobsters

One of the nearby attractions is the town of Kampot, a beautiful drive through lush (for Cambodia in dry season) mountain valleys. If Sihannoukville is laid- back, Kampot is in a coma. That aspect made it really nice though, we were able to just wonder around exploring without anyone treating us like we had dollar-signs flashing over our heads. (I'll have to add those pics later, they're on JP's camera)

We visited Bokor hill station, an abandoned mountain top resort town. Very cool and creepy-like...........

I was really tempted to............

We also visited Elephant Cave

In Kep, we hung out on the beach with some new friends and ate some freaking fantastic crab

Well, sorry to rush off, but gotta meet a friend for dinner......
K
P.S. Coming home March 16 (not sure yet how I feel about that)

City of Ghosts

Phnom Penh is quite a city of contrasts. Crumbling 1920's French mansions, Vietnameese, Chineese and Thai shopkeepers selling spices and mobile phones, beautiful temples with orange, red and yellow-robed monks strolling with umbrellas in the sun, NY baseball caps on mototaxi drivers every two steps you take asking "Killing fields today? Genocide museum? Shooting range, you wanna shoot AK?"
Baguette stands dot the riverside, and mine victims hold their hats for change, NGO-owned Land Rovers ride alongside rickshaws down back streets where you can have your shoes repaired or your fortune told.

It's strange here, but much more a real city than Siem Reap, which gave the impression of just being thrown together to provide temple-tourists with a place to sleep and get pissed and sidewalks for the locals to sleep on.

So, we've spent a few days here, mostly walking around, getting ourselves lost and finding some good restaurants along the way. I think we may have found the hotel from 'City of Ghosts'. We also found out that the mischevious monkey in the movie was not an exaggeration; we've caught a few on our balcony (one seemed very confused when he peeped on me in the shower, 'where's the fur!?') and later a momma monkey came by to investigate after I gave her baby a cookie.

On a grim note, anyone who comes to Cambodia really owes it to themselves (if they have any interest in history or human behavior) to visit the markers of the atrocities comitted here under Pol Pot's regime in the 1970's. Namely, the Genoside Museum and the Killing Fields. The Toul Sleng (literally: guilty hill) is a series of school buildings that were used as an imprisonment and torture camp and is now a museum and a memorial to the thousands of people who lived (and died, with only 7 people surviving) there. It's been said that what is the most striking about the 'museum' is how ordinary it looks, and I agree. It's obvious that it must have been a huge effort to sterilize what must have been festering when it was found. Now, no smell at all remains.
There are paintings done by one of the survivors displaying how the sparse playground equipment was used for interrogation, the conditions in the cells where the prisoners were kept and other aspects of life there

It's hard to look at the multitude of photos taken by the authorities of each of the prisoners, they fill several rooms. Here's a few more photos....

Then we went to the Killing Fields, where Khmer Rouge soldiers systematically shot and bludgened prisoners to death, to then be left in mass graves. I didn't take any pictures there, you can look at J.P.'s site for a few. It was a somber field with trees and irrigation ditches, without the markings, it would have been hard to tell what had happened there.

Here's some more photos from around town.....

Just a comment on the beggar situation: this morning as we were trying to eat breakfast by the river, an insane beggar woman with two small kids was hitting, pinching and pulling their hair in an attempt to make them cry (a success) and thereby getting money from tourists. A woman actually gave her something after this display, I was shocked! I tried to explain to a security guard what this disturbed person was doing to her children, but apparently there isn't a Cambodian child welfare organization to take these kids away.

There are so many poor and dirty kids running around, but at least most of them seem to have friends and family, you see them playing in the park, running around, laughing, it makes one wonder why someone has to be beaten in addition to being poor and filthy and being made to beg. Looking at these scenes everyday, I can understand why Hindus and Buddhists came up with the idea of Karma, it certainly makes it more digestable to believe that these misfortunate people are in their situation because they somehow deserve it.

Thanks, I just had to get that out, it's been building for a while.

Tomorrow, we're off to Sihanoukville, the closest Cambodia has to a beach resort- looking forward to my dose of rays.....

Ankor-Hard Core

Wow! Very cool!
We've spent the last few days at the ancient Ankor temples. I'm overwhelmed by the beautiful artistry and condition some these temples remain in and the supeurb job being done to preserve and restore them.
That said, it isn't all gravy. It's super hot and dusty and after two hours I'm already sticky, stinky, filthy, and exhausted. (to give you an idea of how hot it is, I haven't felt the urge to pee either of the first two days, and we've spent at least 6 hours a day there, and I am drinking alot of water)
Worth it? F-in'yah it is! What I've seen and felt in the last two days has far surpassed any ancient ruins I've ever seen (Mexico, Greece). Here's a few teaser pictures since I don't have time right now to upload everything (this IS Cambodia, and the power goes out every few hours)....................

Tomorrow, J.P. and I are leaving to Phenom Phen (I really hope the road will be better that the trip in).
A few nights ago, we saw the movie "City of Ghosts" a Matt Dillon film that takes place mostly in Cambodia. It was totally surreal to come out of that movie and walk back into it. For anyone who has seen it- it isn't anywhere near that scary here (however, I haven't gotten to P.P. yet!)

As far as my general impressions of Cambodia go,
1) Very different from Thailand, the rough time they've had here for hundreds of years shows, many many poor people, less than terrific infrastructure, much less hygenic conditions than Thailand, (who have come to impress me as very clean).
2) Higher costs in terms of food, lodging, etc. (for foreigners of course, and I know this is Siem Reap, it may be different in other cities).
3) Unfortunately, not too hot yet on the food, I think we've been spoiled in Thailand, both in quality and quantity (we miss all the great Thai food!)
4) Very friendly people, especially kids, and even when they aren't begging. Riding around in the countryside, school kids on bicycles wave hello more often than not.

Thankfully, there does seem to be alot of hope here for the future. The Ankor temples are becoming more accessable for everyone, which brings in much needed jobs and opportunity for the people here (and for corrupt officials too, which is another story, but it seems that there is enough to go around) It's great also to be seeing so many schools in the area, very #1!

It will be interesting to come back in 10 years and see how things have changed.

Next time, from Phenom Phen!
K

BTW, to get J.P.'s side of the story, check out his blog at:
http://blogs.bootsnall.com/jp